1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to ion vapor generation and more specifically to improved devices for generating ion vapors. Particular utility is found for the present invention in the areas of combustion enhancement for furnaces which burn oil, gas, coal, wood, and/or other like fuels, and also for combustion enhancement of internal combustion engines which burn gasoline, diesel, oil, and/or, liquid natural gas, propane, or butane gas or other like fuels, and will be described in connection with such utilities. However, other utilities are also contemplated by the present invention, including, for example, in health fields related to the control infectious air borne contaminants, irritants to breathing, and odors.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
The presence of measurable amounts of water vapor is known to have a catalytic effect capable of improving fuel efficiency in various combustion processes, as is described in Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, 4th Edition, at page 1501. For many years, bubbling ion vapor generators have been applied successfully to internal combustion engines. During the last several years, various improvements have been made in ion vapor generator technology, particularly in the areas of heating apparatus and related combustion furnace applications. Such applications are described in my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 4,952,340. The precise phenomenology by which water vapor enhances combustion has not been fully understood in the past, nor is it completely understood now. At further puzzle has been that bubbling or agitating a water-including liquid to produce hydroxyl ions (for example as described in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,952,340 and other U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,862,819, 4,016,837, and 4,410,467), has usually further enhanced combustion, notwithstanding the fact that the precise mechanism by which the negative ions are liberated from the liquid, and why bubbling or agitation processes function better than other methods, is unknown. However, many tests (including mass spectrometry, as well as, commercial use of my earlier ion vapor generator described in my '340 patent) have substantiated that hydroxyl ions are produced by generators using such processes, and have demonstrated the beneficial catalytic effects that the presence of negative ion vapor have on the combustion process.
A research report of my earlier ion vapor generator technology is disclosed in Nelson, K. L. et al, "Augmentation of Gas Phase Combustion By Bubbling Combustion Air Through Liquid," Proceedings Of Alternate Energy Sources For; Hydrocarbon Technology Environment (Ann Arbor, Mich.) Vol. 6, 1982, pp. 273-289. Confirmation of the benefits to human health, derived from the presence of negative ion vapor in the air, particularly as regards the retarding of the growth of bacteria and resulting infection, is documented in Soyka, Fred et al, The Ion Effect, Bantam Books, New York, N.Y., 1977. Additional references confirming the beneficial effects of ion vapors are given in the bibliography of this volume.